The Duties of Fathers, Sons, and Brothers
by tarin2014tfan
Summary: With their Mutation Day fast approaching, Splinter tests his sons' skill levels. Two of them surprise him very much.


**The Duties of Fathers, Sons, and Brothers**

 **Disclaimer -** I do not own TMNT or any of the characters therein. Some VERY rich dude does.  
 **Rating** \- Teen audiences.  
 **Story Warnings** \- Swearing, Disrespectable behavior, Child disobedience, Violence. (Don't like these topics? Do not read.)  
 **Pairings** \- None, parental figure and children. (Don't like these topics? Do not read.)  
 **Universe -** 2012 series. (Don't like these topics? Do not read.)  
 **Ages** \- Splinter an adult/ Turtles are teens

 **Summary** \- With their Mutation Day fast approaching, Splinter tests his sons' skill levels. Two of them surprise him very much.

 **The Duties of Fathers, Sons, and Brothers**

"Michelangelo."

Drawing a deep breath, the orange banded ninja stood, and took his position in the center of the dojo floor. He glanced nervously at his brothers, kneeling at the edge of the mats as he waited for the signal to begin.

Man he hated tests!

Donnie gave him a warm, reassuring smile.

Mikey returned it. No matter what, he could always count on his genius brother for encouragement.

Raph's ever present scowl was firmly in place, but Mikey noticed the slight twitch of his emerald brother's bicep, and looked down to see Raph giving him a thumb's up.

A warm rush of emotions washed over the sea green turtle, if Raph thought he had a chance, maybe he did.

After a quick glance at his father, Mikey's eyes drifted over to Leo. The blue banded turtle sat ramrod straight, and still as stone. Only Leo's eyes showed anything other than complete indifference.

It was a rare look his oldest brother gave Mikey. One Leo reserved for only the most difficult of battles. A look that conveyed the leader's complete confidence in his brothers' ability to triumph.

And it was directed at Mikey.

After seeing that look, it didn't matter to Mikey what Donnie and Raph thought. Nor April or Casey. Shoot, it didn't even matter what SPLINTER thought. If Leo believed Mikey could do this... Mikey could do this.

Big brother wouldn't place belief like that in a loser.

"Begin!"

Pulling his nunchucks from his belt, Mikey dropped into a defensive stance. He and Master Splinter began to slowly circle one another, each taking stock of the other, calculating their moves.

Mikey knew if he waited too long Sensei would stop the match, claiming Mikey had intentionally hesitated. The sea green turtle would thereby be branded lacking in confidence at best, and a coward at worst.

Mikey was going to prove, once and for all, he was neither.

Mikey attacked. He wanted to shout out his usual battle cry, but remained silent. This wasn't the time for fun, he had something to prove. To his father. To his brothers. And most of all, to himself.

Splinter brought his staff down in an arc, aiming for Mikey's shoulder. A move designed to disarm.

Mikey thrust up, compensating for Splinter's greater height, and swung his weapon. The hard wooden end of his nunchuck made contact with the rat's side just under his arm. Splinter grunted and jumped back, away from his son's spinning weapon. He momentarily looked at Mikey with surprise filled eyes before dropping into a wide, low stance.

Splinter hadn't expected such a move from his youngest son. He was going to have to adjust his strategy.

It wasn't wise to give Splinter too much time to think, and Mikey wasn't planning on it.

The orange banded ninja rushed forward.

With the stance Splinter had taken, Mikey had one of two options. He could go low, sweeping Splinter's legs out from under him, bringing the rat to the floor, or go high, making Splinter top heavy, and throwing off his balance, toppling the rat over.

Either way worked, just so Splinter would end up on the floor for Mikey's next attack

If Mikey went low, he had to contend with not only Splinter's well muscled and powerful legs, but also his equally as devastating tail. Not a good combination. Going high, Mikey was at a sever disadvantage because of his shorter height. Most of Mikey's force would have to go into his jump just to get high enough to overbalance the taller rat, and send Splinter to the floor.

Splinter knew this, and he also knew Mikey knew it too. The logical thing would be for Mikey to go low.

Mikey had never been accused of being logical. Mikey did the unexpected.

He went high.

Splinter straightened, widening his stance, and anchoring his feet in anticipation of a sweep attack. The rat's eyes went wide when Splinter realized that Mikey was going to jump.

Mikey felt more than a small amount of satisfaction for having surprised Sensei twice in one match as his feet made solid contact with his father's shoulders. The moment he felt Splinter stumble backwards, trying to adjust his center to keep from falling over, Mikey kicked off, hard. Splinter hung as if suspended in mid-air, arms windmilling before toppling over. Mikey executed a perfect backflip, landing several feet away ready to start his next attack.

Mikey wanted so much to glance at his brothers, but didn't dare. Sensei's words rang in his ears. _"Do not give your opponent time to recover, Michelangelo. Continue your attack when he is at his most vulnerable."_

That's exactly what Mikey did.

With only a few seconds before Splinter leapt to his feet, Mikey rushed back in. This time the sea green turtle went low, sliding on his carapace down one side of his prone father. As he flew by, Mikey wasn't idle. He whipped out with the hand closest to Splinter, tagging the rat repeatedly with his nunchucks.

Mikey wasn't sure how many hits he got in. He planned to ask Donnie for an accurate count later.

At the end of his slide, Mikey flipped back over onto his front. He pulled both feet under himself, using one hand to help maintain his balance. He gripped his chucks tightly in the other, waiting for Splinter's next move.

Splinter got to his feet, not quite as nimble as he normally was, and looked at his youngest son as if seeing the sea green turtle for the first time. He gingerly touched a couple of places on his chest before taking a stance Mikey had never seen before.

Apparently Leo had, if his brother's quick inhale was any indication. And if Leo was surprised enough by Splinter's stance to let any sound escape, it most definitely did not bode well for Mikey.

Mikey did however chance a glance at Leo. The near imperceptible nod from his leader was all the reassurance Mikey needed.

He didn't see Splinter's attack until it was almost too late. While Mikey had been watching Splinter for the smallest indication the ninja master was about to start his attack, Splinter had been snaking his tail along the floor in an attempt to come at the sea green turtle from behind.

There was only one sure way to escape Splinter's sneak attack, Mikey had to jump. And for the third time in a single match, Mikey surprised his Sensei by doing the unexpected.

It wouldn't be smart for Mikey to move left or right, he would still be caught by his father's tail. The ideal escape would be for Mikey to jump back, landing well beyond the reach of Splinter's tail, then reevaluate his strategy.

Being the most logical counter move, Splinter would be expecting that. Since Mikey had already demonstrated his disregard for logical moves, Splinter could also very well be expecting his youngest son to do the unexpected. A mischievous glint sparked in Mikey's baby blue eyes as the corners of his mouth lifted just a tad.

There were a LOT more unexpected moves to be considered in a situation like this than one would think.

Mikey jumped all right, but not in any direction his father could have expected. Mikey jumped right on top of Splinter's tail, and before his father had time to react, Mikey slammed the end of his nunchucks down on the tip with every ounce of strength he could muster.

A pained yowl filled the room, making the three kneeling turtles wince. Ignoring the pain in his eardrums, Mikey maintained his focus, watching his father for any sudden move of attack.

It never came.

A gong sounded, signaling the end of Mikey's match. The sea green turtle was still armed, on his feet, and conscious.

Mikey had passed his test with flying colors.

Donnie and Raph rushed out onto the mats. They pummeled their baby brother with slaps to his shell and noogies. Leo remained kneeling, but his face was split from side to side with the biggest grin Mikey had ever seen on his oh-so-responsible brother's face.

"Donatello. Raphael. Please return to you places. Michelangelo..." Splinter motioned for Mikey to come stand in front of him.

The sea green turtle took his place, and his brothers reluctantly returned to kneel beside Leo.

"You demonstrated some rather... unorthodox maneuvers during your exam."

Mikey knew his father wasn't making a simply observation. Splinter wanted an explanation.

"A ninja's first priority is the success of his mission by whatever means necessary to ensure victory." Mikey was rather proud of himself, he hadn't said it word for word like Leo would have, but he'd gotten the gist of it. "I watched for my opportunities, and took them. I found my opponent's weak spots, and used them to my advantage. Everyone knows a rat's tail is tender at the end," Mikey grinned cheekily.

Splinter stroked his beard, contemplating his son's words.

Mikey wasn't finished.

"Just because a ninja has to preform a serious task, doesn't mean he can't have fun doing it. Which is what I do, and because I stay true to my nature, you underestimate me, Sensei. You take my having fun as goofing off, and my energy as stupidity. It's not. You ASSUMED, and that's why YOU lost."

Mikey now needed two hands to count the number of times he had surprised his father in one session.

Splinter took one last thoughtful look at his youngest son before turning to the other three. "You all have passed your exam, and as promised in celebration of your upcoming Mutation Day, you have my permission to spend the that week at April's farm."

"Aren't you coming with us, Sensei?" Mikey was saddened by the very thought of Splinter not accompanying them.

Splinter tipped his head, he just kept being surprised by this one. "I have yet to make that decision, Michelangelo. You are now all dismissed."

Mikey didn't surprise his father on that one. The sea green turtle literally jumped on Raph and Donnie. "Who wants to play Mario Cart!?"

"We can all play, Mikey." Donnie laughed. "We have four controllers now, remember?"

"Oh yeah! My bad!"

"I'm gonna be Princess Peach," Raph growled.

"Cool! I wanna be Toad! Who're you gonna be Donnie?"

"I want to be Mario this time. Leo can be Bowser."

It was then the brothers noticed they were one short.

"Hey, Leo. You coming?" Mikey called.

"I'll be there in a minute, guys. I want to talk to Sensei a sec."

The sea green turtle just shrugged, and lead the two middle brothers to the TV.

Leo turned to look at his father. Splinter was still standing in the center of the dojo, a slightly perplexed look on his face. He quickly changed his facial expression to one of neutrality when he realized his oldest was watching him.

"Yes, Leonardo?"

Leo stood, taking a single step towards his father. "Mikey's right. You underestimate him all the time, Sensei." Before Splinter could reply, Leo continued. "He's a good ninja, but because he doesn't do it your way, you think he's not. He observant, focused, quick, fierce, everything you always said a great ninja has to be, but because he doesn't go about it all serious, you think less of him than you do the rest of us."

Leo stayed silent, waiting for his father's response.

"That is your opinion."

"No, Sensei. That's my OBSERVATION. You're our father. You've kept us alive, and taught us how to keep ourselves alive. And we love you for that and so much more. But, you're arrogant. And that's what's going to cost you everything that's important in life in the end, and I'm not talking about being a ninja. Raph and I speak our mind then we're done. Donnie'll try to understand, but he'll eventually see the futility of it, and be done too. But Mikey, I don't want to think about what it'd take to make him turn away. But believe me when I say he's walking that path right now."

Splinter sighed deeply. "It would seem I have underestimated more than just Michelangelo. When did you become so insightful, Leonardo?"

Leo shook his head. "Insight has nothing to do with it. Every good leader must know his team better than he knows himself to best utilize their strengths, and to compensate for their weaknesses. I know my team, Sensei." Not waiting to be dismissed, Leo turned and headed for the door, and the fun his brothers offered beyond. He paused, hand on the doorframe. "Oh, and Sensei, there's one other thing you might want to reconsider about Mikey too. Speaking as his leader, and knowing him as I do, he's going to be the first one of us to kick your ass, not me."

Having said his piece, Leo left the dojo to join his brothers, leaving his father to his thoughts.

"Woah, dude! What took so long? We've already got three races on you!"

"It's cool, Mikey. I want in on the next race though, and I'm NOT being Bowser!"

Splinter made his way to the dojo door and silently watched his sons. He had never noticed before how well they got along together. There was none of the constant fighting that had colored every interaction between Splinter and his own brother, Oroku Saki. His brother, who was now his worst enemy.

"Perhaps it is time for the teacher to become the student, and for the son to no longer emulate the father," he muttered to himself.

"Booyakasha! I win again! I am so awesome!"

As his brothers whined and moaned about losing yet again to Mikey's awesome gaming skills, the sea green turtle watched as Splinter turned away, and walked back into the dojo. A tiny smile played along his lips.

"Mikey?"

"I'm good, bro," Mikey flashed Leo one of his trademark grins. "Be sure to tell April Sensei's coming too when you call her."

"How can you be so sure of that, Mikey?" Donnie asked, having picked up on Leo's and Mikey's conversation.

"He's our father, D. He's not stupid. Besides, how else is he going to realize how awesome he is if all he does is hang with himself meditating all day? Ya need the people who love you to keep reminding you so ya don't forget!"

Thanks for reading.


End file.
